A dispute over the elevation of a New Orleans home has landed two sisters in court.

Fusion Construction filed suit against the women, seeking $89,000 and claiming they breached a contract with the company. But the sisters accuse the company of shoddy work and questionable business practices.

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Kathleen Cochrane and Florence McIntosh hired Fusion Construction to elevate their Avenue D home in 2009. They used money from the state's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to fund the project.

While work got under way, Cochrane and McIntosh moved from their home into a rental apartment owned by Fusion CEO Judy Weatherly, paying $600 per month.

As the months dragged on and the work lagged, the women grew concerned.

"(Weatherly) kepy telling me it was going to be done," Cochrane told WDSU. "And it just kept dragging on and dragging on and dragging on."

The sisters signed their first contract with Fusion in May 2009 and paid the company $30,000. Future installments were planned, but the women became skeptical when workers stopped showing up to the site, and even more worried when Weatherly asked them to sign a second contract, making the total amount for the project $119,000.

At the time, their house still sat atop support beams.

"We wouldn't sign the papers," Cochrane said. "So to make us feel comfortable, (they said) 'we'll give you a kickback of $10,000' -- and she put that in writing, yes she did."

Cochrane provided a document signed by Weatherly promising a "$10,000 refund" from her "profits on their home." The sisters signed off on it, but regret doing so.

They say they never received a check from Weatherly.

When work still wasn't completed months into the project, the two filed complaints with the elevation grant office and the state's contractor licensing board.

They told officials they wanted Fusion off the project.

"I don't want her touching the house no more," Cochrane said.

The sisters sent Fusion a letter instructing the company to halt all work. They hired a different contractor to take over the job.

That contractor, Davie Shoring, provided WDSU with an engineering report filed before they took over. In it, the engineer cites inadequate sill supports, columns not filled with concrete and damaged framing. The engineer deemed the house "unsafe" and susceptible to collapse during severe winds.

Cochrane said she used the remainder of the grant money to pay Davie Shoring. She believes that triggered the lawsuit.

"(Weatherly's) suing us -- she's got a lien on my property because she thinks the $89.000 is hers," she said.

In paperwork filed with the court, fusion claims it was within two weeks of completing the project when the sisters breached the contract.

WDSU attempted to speak with Weatherly and was referred to her attorney. In a statement, he said: "We don't comment on pending litigation, but all allegations are unsupported by the facts, and we look forward to presenting our case in court."

The trial is scheduled for May.

Fusion Construction, meanwhile, was suspended in November. The state, using information provided by a competitor is investigating whether it and other contractors engaged in misconduct.

Fusion was the lead contractor on a job where a worker was killed in a home collapse last spring. Federal investigators found Coastal Shoring, the subcontractor, at fault.